SoftBank targets acquisition of Boston Dynamics

SoftBank Group Corp., today introduced a subsidiary of SoftBank, has entered into a definitive agreement to obtain robotics pioneer Boston Dynamics from Alphabet Inc. The transaction aligns with SoftBank’s investments in its own vision of catalyzing the next wave of intelligent robotics and paradigm-shifting systems. The conditions of the transaction weren’t disclosed.

Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., stated, Nowadays, there are several problems we nevertheless cannot resolve by ourself with human features. Smart robotics is going to be a crucial driver of the next phase of the Information Revolution, and his staff at Boston Dynamics and Marc are the clear technology leaders in higher level robots that are dynamic. I’m excited to welcome them to the SoftBank family and anticipate supporting them as they continue to advance the area of robotics and investigate applications that will help make life simpler, safer and more fulfilling.

Marc Raibert, Chief executive officer and founder of Boston Dynamics, stated, We at Boston Dynamics are thrilled to be a part of SoftBank’s daring vision and its own position making the next technology revolution, and we share SoftBank’s opinion that improvements in technology must be for the advantage of humanity. We anticipate working with SoftBank in our mission to drive the boundaries of what sophisticated robots may do and also to generate useful applications in a smarter and much more connected world.

As part of the transaction with Alphabet, SoftBank has also decided to get Japanese robotics business Schaft that was bi-pedal. Founded in the University of Tokyo In the JSK Robotics lab in 2012, the organization has continued its groundbreaking work below the leadership of co-founders Narito Suzuki, Junichi Urata, Yuto Nakanishi and Koichi Nishiwaki.